Dear Pastor,
You and I are running a marathon (26.2 miles at once, are we crazy!). We might even say we are running an ultramarathon (anything over 26.2 miles). As ministers, we are not sprinting nor running a 5k (3.1 miles). This means that it takes time and furthermore, it takes a lot of energy and a lot of patience. To begin thinking about what running mile 20 will look like when you are only at mile 5 is to get a bit ahead of yourself. We can make plans for mile 20: planning on eating well, hydrating, pacing, getting our mind into a good place, but we can’t run mile 20 until miles 1-19 are covered. Ministry is much like racing in this regard. We often want to be at mile 20 when we simply haven’t covered enough ground to be there yet. We make plans for mile 20 and imagine what it might be like, but we must recognize the importance, nay, the imperative necessity of running the mile we are in simply by putting one foot in front of the other one.
Here is what that looks like in ministry:
On any given day of the week, we daydream about what it would be like to serve in a church that has more volunteers, money, space, and members than we know what to do with. But instead of mourning the fact that we don’t serve in such a place (and then daydreaming about other places that might somehow have such an overabundance) we should put one foot in front of the other foot to help make this church and this ministry into that which we have dreamed.
The truth is that prayer, Bible study and time with people will reap more and greater results than almost anything else we can do. Indeed there are also other things on our to-do lists but if we spend time nurturing our mind, heart, and soul and then spend much of the rest of our time with people we certainly can’t go wrong. Sometimes building the healthy and “successful” church we dream of means stopping and praying immediately for that which is causing us distress and then making sure to spend time with people who need Jesus, encouragement, and/or equipping.
We are in a marathon, but sometimes instead of trying to figure out what we will do at mile 20 and wishing we were already there, we should just put one foot in front of the other and find joy and give thanks for the moment/mile we are in. After all who wants to get to the finish line only to discover that we spent so much time day-dreaming about the future moments and miles that we missed the things right in front of us and never enjoyed the run at all?
Christ is with us, Christ is in us
Mike
Pastor Encouragement 